Today I decided to get a simple point and shoot. I limited myself to $100 for the camera and came home with a Canon PowerShot A3100IS. I looked at all the cameras in that range and found it had the nicest macro in that price range. Here are a couple photos,
I use a Canon Point and shoot as well. I built a nifty light box using tissue paper and a plastic box. Added a couple daylight bulbs to a couple spot lights. Then started shooting. I have had the reflection problem you see in your pictures.....best solution for me is to shoot the picture with the coin in the upper left of the cameras range, then use crop to get the shot. My avatar and profile are pictures I have taken in this manner. Here is an olympic and washington like yours down the same way (guess we have similar collecting taste).
If you like the fields to be white, instead of black, that is simple to fix as well. I take my pictures with the coin in the light box, with a dark room as the reflection (1st picture)....to get it white, lay the coin down so it is reflecting the white side of the light box...gets you something like this (2nd picture).
I use a Cannon Powershot SD 1200 and have been very happy with my results. Didn't have to part with a whole lot o' "jing" and it sure as heck beats "scans".....
Nice photos! I really like the toner! I have lots to learn about coin photography. The highend canon we have is overly complicated IMO. Thats why I went and got a simple point and shoot. I'm pretty happy with the results. I have had the camera for about 4 hours so I'm still messing around with it. Green you take some nice photos too, guess there is hope for me and my camera!
I did build my light box. My child got a present that had a plastic cover over the item...so four sides and a top made out of clear plastic...perfect. I then wrapped the box in a layer of white tissue paper. This diffuses the light from outside the box. I use two clip spot lights with daylight bulbs. Laying the box on one side, I use a coin stand in the box and shoot towards the back. I use construction paper to change the background. If I want dark fields, I do this all in a dark room so the reflection is black. If I want white fields, I lay the coin on an angle so it is reflecting the white side of the box.
